The present invention relates to an electrical machine, in particular an asynchronous machine, and to a cooling system for cooling an electrical machine or a vehicle, in particular a motor vehicle incorporating an electrical machine, and to a method for cooling an electrical machine.
The following discussion of related art is provided to assist the reader in understanding the advantages of the invention, and is not to be construed as an admission that this related art is prior art to this invention.
An electrical machine is used to convert electrical energy into mechanical energy and vice versa. When converting mechanical energy into electrical energy, the electrical machine is operated as a generator. When converting electrical energy into mechanical energy, the electrical machine is used as a motor. In both cases it is desirable to achieve a high degree of efficiency at high power density. High efficiency is necessary in order to enable energy to be provided inexpensively and in a resource-conserving manner. A high power density is necessary, as it is desirable to produce electrical machines more inexpensively and with less material usage, or to construct lightweight electrical machines for weight-sensitive applications.
Examples of weight-sensitive applications are those in which the supporting structure for the electrical machine is costly or the electrical machine is transported from one location to another in the application. Two examples of weight-sensitive applications are wind turbines or electric vehicles.
It would be desirable and advantageous to provide an improved electrical machine to obviate prior art shortcomings and to attain an effective cooling.